Lake District

England's most beautiful national park, where glacial lakes and rolling fells meet. It is home to the houses of Beatrix Potter, author of Peter Rabbit, and the poet William Wordsworth, and is ideal for hiking and lake cruises.

The Lake District sits in Cumbria in north-west England. It is England's largest national park (about 2,360 sq km) and was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage cultural landscape in 2017. Glaciers carved more than a dozen long, narrow lakes and hundreds of small mountain tarns here, and England's highest peak, Scafell Pike, is also within the park. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Wordsworth and the other "Lake Poets" made the area famous, while Beatrix Potter, author of Peter Rabbit, used her royalties to buy large tracts of farmland and later left them to the National Trust, preserving the pastoral scenery you see today.

Areas: The southern Lakes are centred on Windermere. Bowness, Windermere town and Ambleside draw the most visitors, and Potter's Hill Top farm lies on the western side of the lake. The central area has Grasmere and Dove Cottage, Wordsworth's former home. The northern Lakes are based around Keswick, from where you can visit Derwentwater, Buttermere and Castlerigg Stone Circle. Ullswater in the north-east is comparatively quiet, while the western fells, including Scafell Pike, are serious hiking country. We suggest 3–4 days: 1–2 days in the southern Lakes and 1–2 days in the northern Lakes.

Getting there: From London Euston, take a train to Oxenholme (about 2.5–3 hours), then change to the branch line for Windermere station. From Windermere, the Stagecoach 555 bus runs through Ambleside and Grasmere to Keswick, and in summer the open-top 599 sightseeing bus also operates. Roads in the area are narrow, and parking is scarce and paid, so drivers should be ready to drive on the left and to tackle steep mountain passes. The best season is May–Sep, and autumn foliage and snowy winter peaks are also beautiful. However, the Lake District is the wettest part of England, so bring a waterproof jacket and sturdy non-slip walking boots year-round, and check the Met Office mountain weather forecast before heading up the fells. Hill Top, the most popular attraction, requires advance booking in summer, and accommodation should be reserved early in peak season.

Top sights

• Windermere – England’s largest natural lake, about 18 km long. Take a cruise to link Bowness, Ambleside and Lakeside at the southern tip.
• Grasmere & Dove Cottage – A lakeside village that William Wordsworth called “the loveliest spot that man hath ever found.” He wrote many of his famous works at Dove…
• Hill Top – The farmhouse home of Beatrix Potter, author of The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Its interior furnishings and garden match the scenes in her pictu…
• Keswick & Derwentwater – The central town of the northern Lake District and Derwentwater, the “Queen of the Lakes,” dotted with small islands and surrounded by beau…
• Ullswater – The second-largest lake in the Lake District, often hailed as one of England’s most beautiful lakes. A historic steamer cruise combined wit…
• Buttermere – A small lake cradled by mountains. Its roughly 7 km flat lakeside path is hailed as one of Britain’s most beautiful short walks.
• Ambleside – A stone town at the north end of Windermere, lined with outdoor gear shops and cafés. It is the hub for walking and transport in the Lake D…
• Castlerigg Stone Circle – One of Britain's oldest stone circles, erected around 3000 BC. Surrounded by mountains, its scenery feels even more haunting than Stoneheng…
• Scafell Pike – England's highest peak at 978 m, and one of the Three Peaks Challenge. From the summit you can see the Irish Sea and Scotland.
• The World of Beatrix Potter Attraction – An indoor themed attraction in Bowness that recreates 23 Beatrix Potter characters, including Peter Rabbit, in three-dimensional scenes.
• Tarn Hows – A small lake ringed by pine forest and hills, with a gentle trail around the water. It is the most photogenic and easiest walk in the Lake…
• Coniston Water & Steam Yacht Gondola – The third-largest lake in the Lake District. You can take a Victorian steam yacht built in 1859 across the water, and it was the setting th…
• Brantwood – Victorian thinker John Ruskin's lakeside home, with terraced gardens rising up the hillside and facing Coniston Old Man across the water.
• The Old Man of Coniston – Standing 803 metres tall, this classic half-day climb follows old copper mine trails to the summit, with views over Coniston Water and More…
• Hawkshead – A car-free old village of whitewashed stone cottages where a young William Wordsworth went to school, and home to the Beatrix Potter Galler…
• Rydal Mount – The home where William Wordsworth lived the longest (1813–1850), with the garden he designed himself and views over Rydal Water.
• Wray Castle – A Victorian neo-Gothic castle on the northwest shore of Windermere, family-friendly and reachable by lake cruiser.
• Honister Pass & Slate Mine – One of the steepest pass roads in the Lake District; at the summit, a century-old slate mine offers underground tours and the chance to tac…
• Catbells – A 451-metre 'family fell' that takes about an hour to summit, overlooking Derwent Water and the town of Keswick.
• Helvellyn – England's third-highest mountain at 950 metres, and the famous Striding Edge route is the most thrilling climb in the Lake District.
• Aira Force – A 20-metre waterfall in woodland on the shore of Ullswater, spanned by a stone arch bridge and celebrated by Wordsworth in several of his p…
• Wast Water – England's deepest lake, with scree slopes plunging straight into the water on its southeast shore; once voted Britain's most beautiful view.
• Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway – Nicknamed 'La'al Ratty', this 15-inch gauge steam railway runs from a seaside town through the Eskdale valley into the mountains.
• Hardknott Pass & Roman Fort – One of Britain's steepest roads, with a gradient of 33%, and a 2nd-century Roman fort on the hillside overlooking Eskdale.
• Muncaster Castle – A medieval castle on the Lake District's west coast, said to be haunted and known for its rhododendron gardens, owl centre and terraces ove…
• Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway – A volunteer-run steam train at the southern end of Windermere that links with lake boats for a combined train-and-boat journey.
• Cartmel – A small village known for its 12th-century priory and sticky toffee pudding, and home to the three-Michelin-star restaurant L'Enclume.
• Great Langdale – A glacial U-shaped valley ringed by the Langdale Pikes, one of the Lake District's most classic hiking and climbing bases.
• Grizedale Forest – A large woodland between Coniston Water and Windermere, with a sculpture trail, mountain bike routes and treetop adventures.
• Lowther Castle & Gardens – A romantic castle ruin on the eastern edge of the Lake District, its interior transformed into a contemporary garden, and a popular new att…

Where to eat

• The Old Stamp House – A Michelin-starred restaurant in the cellar of the former office of poet William Wordsworth. Its "A Journey Around Cumb…
• Forest Side – A Michelin-starred restaurant with a Green Star, set in a Victorian country house in Grasmere. Its menu draws on a one-…
• Grasmere Gingerbread – A century-old gingerbread shop founded in 1854, selling its signature Grasmere gingerbread from a cottage beside St Osw…
• The Drunken Duck Inn – A long-established gastropub at a mountain crossroads above Windermere. It brews its own Barngates beer, and its Sunday…
• Great North Pie Co – A handmade pie shop in a small courtyard in Ambleside. Its 14-hour slow-braised beef and ale pie with mashed potatoes i…
• Zeffirellis – An all-vegetarian Italian restaurant opened in 1980 in a building that once housed an old cinema. The pizza and pasta w…

Itineraries

• Great Britain Classic Loop: England & Scotland – A classic British road trip from London, looping through Bath, the Lake District, Edinburgh, and York.
• Lake District by Bus and Boat, Car-Free, in – By train, the 555 bus and boats, from Windermere north to Keswick and Ullswater.